Geoff Johns Announces A ‘Stargirl’ Live Action Series For DC Universe In 2019

The DC Universe news keeps coming out of SDCC! The latest reveal is that ‘Stargirl’ will be joining the slate of live action shows, which already includes ‘Titans’, ‘Doom Patrol’ and ‘Swamp Thing’. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Geoff Johns will executive produce through Johns’ Mad Ghost Productions, Berlanti Production and Warner Television.

The project is sure to be near-and-dear to Johns’ heart as the character Courtney Whitmore was not only his first original creation as a writer for DC Comics, but was based on his younger sister Courtney who died in the TWA Flight 800 explosion in 1996, when she and her classmates were en route to Paris on a school trip. Courtney Whitmore debuted in 1999, shortly afterward.

Stargirl follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore who inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. The series reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in a fun, exciting and unpredictable series.

Stargirl was played by Sarah Grey when she made a guest appearance on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’. In that version, she lived during World War II and was a member of the original Justice Society of America. Presumably, ‘Stargirl’ will have no connection to ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ or that version of Stargirl.

Since her comic book debut, Stargirl has been featured on the animated series ‘Justice League Unlimited’ and ‘Justice League Action’, the former of which may be included as part of the DC Universe back catalog. (The press release only mentioned ‘Justice League’, not ‘Unlimited’.)

Johns’ description sounds very close to the character’s comic book origin:

“The show’s about Courtney Whitmore, whose mom gets remarried to Pat Dugan, and they move to Blue Valley Nebraska. She learns that Pat Dugan used to be a member of the Justice Society of America, and so she steals her stepfather’s stuff and goes for a joyride.”

Most of that remains the same, but originally Pat Dugan, was Stripesy, the adult valet/sidekick to teenage hero Sylvester Pemberton, the Star-Spangled Kid. It was Sylvester’s old crime fighting equipment that she used to become a superhero just to annoy Pat. In turn, Pat created a bulky suit of armor to keep tabs on her as S.T.R.I.P.E. This essentially made Courtney the spiritual successor of the Star-Spangled Kid until Jack Knight, the son of the Golden Age Starman, chose to retire and gave her his energy staff. Courtney then started going by Stargirl as a tribute to both Pemberton and Starman.

Stargirl joined a modern day version of the Justice Society which included both original members (kept alive through various means) and modern day children, grandchildren and other spiritual heirs, who carried on their names.

In addition to the live action shows, DC Universe will also offer the third season of ‘Young Justice: Outsiders’ and a new ‘Harley Quinn’ animated series.

Jason Motes

Jason’s earliest memory is of watching ‘Batman,’ followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn’t run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes. Jason’s father gamely agreed to read him comic books as bedtime stories instead of ‘Snow White.’ (Super Friends being his favorite.) Jason saw all of the original Star Wars movies (and Indiana Jones and Superman and Star Trek…) in the theaters. Yes, he is old. And grew up in the most GEEKTASTIC decade ever, the 80s, devouring a steady diet of GI Joe, Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Princess of Power and (best of all) Jem! (It totally counts as sci fi! They had a sentient computer that projected holograms!) Jason has studied literature, journalism, film history and has a degree in creative writing (and a minor in psychology) from the University of South Alabama. He has worked as a technical writer and proofreader. These days, most of his creative energy goes into his blog and writing for this site! He lives with the cutest puppies ever.